God calls all of us to worship Him, whoever we are and in whatever state of grace or disgrace we find ourselves. When we do so, we are refreshed, renewed, and restored to a proper relationship with God. We gather in gratitude to God for His continuous and unfailing love of us, asking Him to inspire us to seek to become new beings by His spirit working within us. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.
Pastoral Prayer
We confess before Thee, O God, that although most of us are not too busy, sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking we are too busy properly to take time to bow before Thee in prayer. We imagine that we have things to do which take us away from Thee, little realizing that there would be nothing at all to do if Thou hadst not created us. We suppose that we will take time to pray when we have time to pray, but that until then, we shall go on with whatever it is that occupies our lives. Forgive us for being too much consumed by daily concerns and too little consumed by eternal concerns.
We thank Thee for all the gifts in life which give it richness and meaning and texture: for a baby’s smile, a dog’s unconditional love, a comedian’s humor, a poet’s insight, a sunset’s splendor, a spouse’s forbearance, a doctor’s knowledge, and for the myriad other blessings, large and small, which make life exciting and pleasant and meaningful. And as we feel blessed by many things, help us to become a blessing to others by sharing the plenty we have with others less fortunate than we are.
We pray for people whose vocation it is to help people in need: for doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel who assist the ill and physically afflicted; for those who minister to the mentally ill; for social workers and others who deal with troubled teens or those addicted to drugs or alcohol; for professionals and volunteers who help the poor and undernourished. We ask Thee to influence the decisions of those who have both great power and great responsibility. Bless the President, the members of the Supreme Court, and every member of Congress. Help us, the electorate, to do our best to support and encourage those we have elected to represent us, and better to understand the difficulties they face as well as to resist them when they make decisions which damage large segments of the body politic. Give to us peace in our time, O Lord. We pray in the name of Jesus, who has led us into Thy presence, and in whose memory we pray as he taught us, saying, Our Father….